A Well dressed Christian

August 26, 2012 The well Dressed Christian Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year B Casualties in war in afganistan The war in Afghanistan is still going on after 11 years. In that time over 1900 american soldiers have been killed, and about 3000 soldiers killed overall. I used to keep track of that number until it got way to big. Casualties in war in the streets Father Pfleger has been keeping up the statistics in another war, the war on the streets of Chicago. Every day this summer he has listed the number of people killed in Chicago on that day. Last night, he said that 4 had been killed and 31 wounded in shootings in Chicago. Once again I am sad to say that he gives those statistics so frequently, that I have stopped keeping track of the number. Spiritual warfare But Ephesians reminds us that there is a much deadlier war going on. And the statistics are not being kept by anyone. And the effects are just was real, but sometimes you just cant see them. That is the war going on in the spirit. The war for our souls, and for what is right and wrong. The war against the devil in our lives and in the lives of others. No control over emotional warfare It seems that it is easy for us to identify physical bodies. But you cant identify the hatred, the greed, the disrespect, the jealousy, the need to control, the anger The tangible problems are relatively easy to deal with. Dealing with the intangible - dealing with jealousy, greed, patriotism that has degenerated into uncritical nationalism, community pride that has become twisted into bigotry and prejudice, fear that has become all-controlling both of individuals and of communities - the unseen forces that lead us towards death. These things are far harder to deal with. That goes behind the physical wars. Before there can be a war in the physical realm, it has to start in the spiritual realm, against things that you cannot see. The news does not talk about the casualties, but we can certainly see the results in the pews of our churches. It makes a difference to us, as we see where people used to come to church but they are not here anymore. In order to protect ourselves from this war, we are encouraged to put on the whole armor of God. The armor of god The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmut of salvation. You will notice that there is nothing given to us to hurt other people. That is all protective armor, designed to defend ourselves against an attack. And if we are not careful it is a daily attack. Sometimes the enemies uses other people to hurt us, often times it uses ourselves, our own spirit, our own heart. If we are not steeped in the word of god everyday- we don’t know what the consequences are. We are given one weapon against the devil in our armor. The sword of the spirit – the word of God. Take bible in small doses Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the "jolt" may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bodies. They have developed a habit of consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease and, general well-being The same is true of reading the Bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure to God’s Word will bring to our lives. Most people are looking for the word to be a quick fix, a pill that you can take and fix everything. Your heart, your mind, your kidneys, anything and every all at one time. Sometime we even think that holding the bible will protect us from all. There is a woman who parks in front of the church all the time. She want to protect her camero. She wont come into the church, but puts that bible prominently in her window. The bible is our protection only if we read it and know what it says. It is not a pill to fix everything. It is a vitamin to keep us healthy. Taken in daily doses, that sustain us and guide us. Jesus Christ is the answer to everything. But we have to read in order to know that right question to ask, the right prayer to pray. God is a warrior Today a lot of people are uncomfortable with the warrior image of being a soldier for Christ. The don’t want to have to fight. And how in the world can a sword – bring peace. Not realizing that the image of God in the bible is as a warrior, a warrior fighting the spiritual war on behalf of his people. Ephesians is telling us to dress just like God is dressed. Isaiah 59: 17 says that when God discovered that there was no justice in the world. he put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head, he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in the zeal as in a cloak. The redeemer will come to zion. Soldiers prayer There is a tradition that an soldier offered up this prayer for a son, in his devotions to god and his country. “Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. “Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee … and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. “Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. “And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength. “Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”” —Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur This is a prayer that God himself granted for himself. That son was Jesus Christ. People don’t get Jesus Now we have been reading about Jesus as the bread of life for six weeks. It can be heard to preach when we are on the same chapter for that long. We learn that you have to have physical bread before you can have spiritual bread, that you need that spiritual bread in order to live. That physical bread sustains you for a short time, but eating eternal bread sustains you forever. Once again where do we get this spiritual bread- from the word of God in the bible, in the life of Jesus Christ. That seems to make sense to us. but there are people who don’t get the connection of the spirit and the flesh. Who don’t get that the spirit came together with the flesh in Jesus Christ. Why would we be feasting on Jesus? Not everyone gets it. Jesus says that not everyone gets it. God says that not everyone gets it. We still live in the illusion that everyone will. The word is open for everyone to take, but not everyone will. Churches feel the pain That brings me back to casualties of spiritual warfare. When we look at our pews, we see that many people have fallen away. When we look at our families there are many people that we would like to get back into the church. Sometimes we think that there is something that we did to make them leave, and that there is something that we can say to bring them back. Not realizing that is not the case. We think their refusal to come is a rejection of us, not always the case either. No where in the bible does it say that every one who started out with you on the journey is going to finish the journey. When the lord delivered the isrealites from Egypt, he concluded that most of them would never make it to the promisedland. When he told them they were the children of god, in jeremiah, god says that he can only use the remmant of the faithful. Not everybody. Even jesus says the many are called, but few are chosen. On revelation, when the rapture comes, scripture says that one will be taken up, and the other left. The bread of life is for everyone, but not everyone will be able to take it in. that is biblical. That is in John 6. Jesus explains that if you cant except this teaching, how can you accept the resurrection? That is a teaching only for the faithful. And there is nothing that we have done to make them reject the teachings of jesus. They were given a choice and they chose not to accept it. Preach people out of the church Clarence Jordon was a civil rights leader, he visited a church one day and found that it was one of the few churches, where black and whites worshipped together he asked how it go tthat way.. It was a white church that had been given a black preacher. He started preaching that the church was for everyone. He said the deacons sat him aside one day and said that he could not say that. So he fired the deacons. He said that he preached and preached until there were only 4 people left in the church. And not long after that the church grew and grew. Sometimes the gospel is not about bringing people in, it is about driving people out. People who have no use for the bread of life, and don’t want to listen to jesus. Once the negative energy leaves, then the positive energy can flow freely. When jesus spoke of the bread of life, many people walked away. He turned to the remaining twelve and asked if they were leaving too. They said no, there was no place else to go. This is the only place to get the living bread from heaven. It was that few that believed the good news, that were willing to work, who were prepared to follow jesus through the tuff times. And those were the people god used to build his kingdom. Pray Be strong in the lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of god, and paul’s final words to us – to pray. Pray for ourselves, pray for our loved ones, pray for our church, pray for god mission. Pray for a mission There was a general, who used to pray daily. He never talked about his mission, but he prayed for it everyday. There would be some days when his butler knew to pack his bags foe he was going off to battle. Someone asked how the bulter knew this without talking with the general. He said that whenever he was going to fight, he would stop and pray two or three times a day. Everything he did was in prayer. There was a church, that grew, people stopped activities, and held prayer services. It is time for us to pray. We have work to do, god had plans for us, we need to be ready for those that god is sending to us. let us pray…